Public Service Media and Exposure Diversity

International Journal of Communication 9(2015), 1319–1323 1932–8036/20150005

Introduction

NATALI HELBERGER

University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

MIRA BURRI

University of Bern, Switzerland1

Exposure diversity is a relatively new and as yet to be explicitly formulated objective of

contemporary media policy. While it holds certain potential—in particular in the messy

digital space characterized by abundance and exponentially increased user choices—it

comes with certain risks too. The role of public service media in ensuring exposure

diversity is an underexplored yet important topic of media policy and law. This article

introduces the special section on public service media and exposure diversity and

outlines the key motivation behind it. It briefly presents the main contributions and a

summary of their arguments, as well as the red line that holds them together.

Keywords: public service media, media diversity, exposure diversity

Public service media have traditionally played a leading role in the realization of diversity as one

of the prime objectives of media policy and in this way have ultimately contributed to a functioning public

sphere. By offering a program that is as diverse as it is qualitative, public service media have been

instrumental in exposing the audience to a diversity of information. This mission was not expressly

formulated in the mandate of public service media because under the conditions of analog media, the

equation was simple—a diverse supply by public service media, which at the time also enjoyed the

Natali Helberger: [email protected]

Date submitted: 2015–04–11

1 The editors of this special section wish to thank Rachael Craufurd Smith, Egbert Dommering, Nico van

Eijk, Ellen P. Goodman, Erik Hogenboom, Kari Karppinen, Edmund Lauf, Andra Leurdijk, Tarlach

McGonagle, Caroline Pauwels, Klaus Schönbach, Wolfgang Schulz, Peggy Valcke, Ellen Wauters, and

Richard van der Wurff as well as the contributors to this section for their input and the discussions during

the workshop “Public Service Media and Exposure Diversity” (Amsterdam, September 2012), co-organized

by the Institute for Information Law (University of Amsterdam) and the World Trade Institute (University

of Bern). We extend our special thanks also to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable

recommendations, as well as to Arlene Luck, who graciously guided us through the publication process.

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